Ely Whom I Love
by Exmoorpony
Summary: Sam likes, loves, Jake.  However, what she didn't plan on was that Jake didn't feel the same way.  It especially hurts when she sees him with...well, read to find out!  And review.  That's always a plus!
1. Shoshone Princess

**So here's the deal: For the most part, the story's stayed the same as it was before. However, because of it I had my first...hmmm...I guess critical or flaming review would be good 'nuff terms. You know what? I LIKED IT! It gave me the feedback I needed to make this story better. Hope it's a little better. :)**

My name is Samantha Anne Forster and I live on the River Bend Ranch. I'm sixteen years old and I'm in love with my best friend. He doesn't know that though. It's my secret. Please don't tell him. To him, I'm just Brat, his friend. To others, I'm Sam.

I walked from the ranch house yawning, ready to feed my horse Ace. Already, I had gulped some cereal down. I still hoped Gram would abandon her health kick sometime soon. All Bran was fine for her, but I was going into serious SUGAR WITHDRAWAL. My dad and Jake were working a new horse in the round pen when I finished the morning feedings. I leaned against the worn brown corral fence. The horse's name was long and Dad didn't really approve of it, but it didn't matter. Shoshone Princess wasn't his horse to name. The lively appaloosa filly belonged to Rachel Slocum and was her newest birthday present.

Dad called it time and went to put the horse away. Jake started walking over, his black hair waving in the breeze. My heart immediately sped up its beat. _Please don't ask me questions. My tongue is in my throat right now looking at you. _"What do you think of it, Brat?" Wha-? Oh right. The horse. Great timing. Sigh. "Looks good. Rachel will be really happy."

"We don't have work this afternoon. Want to go for a ride?" Calm down. Just. A. Ride. Whether it was with Jake made no difference. Oh, who was I trying to kid? I nodded numbly, not trusting myself to use real words.

That afternoon, I tacked up my gelding with a sigh. Why couldn't I have a choice who I fell in love with? Jake didn't notice me in the least, so why'd I have to fall in love with the cowboy who still called me 'Brat'? "Hey Ace? Why do things like that have to happen?"

"Things like what?" I think I jumped two feet in the air. "JAKE! My gosh! Why d'you have to do that?"

"What?"

"You very well know what. Scare me."

"Okay, but I think I just did that." I rolled my eyes and walked Ace from the barn. Luckily, his question had been lost in the banter between us. "So, what things?" Damn it. Spoke too soon. "Just thinking about having to have Ace shoed again. Let's go, Jake." We both mounted and headed off.

We were trotting when Jake pulled alongside me. "Your dad asked me to do a bit of an errand. We have to report to the Slocums how their horse's training is going. You okay to go see Rachel, Brat?" That bloody nickname again! Was I okay to go see Rachel? Do you go skiing in the summer? Of course I wasn't ready. I'd avoid her for all the chocolate in the world, and that was saying something. Did Jake care about my feelings? Another no. A definite no. I sighed and shrugged instead of blurting out my thoughts. "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

**I'd like to make a note here: NOTE. Just kidding. Okay, so the deal is this: I have not read the actual Phantom Stallion books in ages, so if you notice any inconsistencies, let me know what they are. I promise I WILL fix them because I love even critical reviews. It helps me a better writer. :) Don't worry. I won't rip into you if you point something out. I'm not like that.**


	2. The Broken Heart

We arrived at the Slocum's fancy-smancy ranch. It was basically the base of Linc's cowboy act. He sure enjoyed playing cowboy, that man. Jake dismounted and rung the doorbell. I heard the thumping of feet down wooden stairs. Then who should open it but Rachel. I felt like barfing. Then she started fluttering her eyelashes and speaking in a sugar sweet voice. "Oh hi Jake. What brings you here?"

"Came to report on your horse."

"Would you like to come in for a while to talk about it?"

"No thanks. We were out riding and thought we'd deliver the message that Shoshone Princess is training well."

"Oh. Well, that's good. We should go for a ride sometime. I could borrow a horse, I'm sure."

"Yeah. Maybe some other time." Remember I said I felt like barfing when she flirted with Jake? When he sounded eager, I had to lean over to Ace's other side and do the dirty deed for real. I came up, green as anything I'm sure. Jake didn't look that concerned, but then he was pretty busy. In a barfingly (no, I didn't do it again) sweet voice, she thanked him for his hard work on her horse and kissed him on the cheek lightly. He seemed to have liked it and that's when I totally lost it. "Jake? Are we going to go riding or should I go to Jen's?" Rachel's voice answered, devoid of the sickly sweet padding this time. "Jennifer's out with her parents, Samantha." Jake reluctantly bid goodbye to his new found best friend and strolled back to his horse, remounting. Then we continued riding down the driveway. He glanced back and I felt like bursting into tears. Why me? Rachel? Why Rachel? RACHEL? Jake turned to me. "See? She's not that bad. I think I will go riding with her. She's sweet. Real pretty too." I usually wasn't the crying type, but when I heard Jake sing her praises though, oooohhh. _I wish it were me. _A big fat tear slipped down my cheek. He was still talking about Rachel.

I noticed we were now near the Phantom's hide-out mountain. The tear was still there. Why should I wipe it away when I wasn't ashamed of it? I knew that my...need for Jake was childish and selfish, but I couldn't help myself. Jake looked over. "What's wrong, Sam?"

"Nothing." I looked away from him. "It can't be nothing. You never cry." That's when I turned to him and screamed. "JAKE! LOOK OUT!"

A boulder crashed down the hillside towards us.

**Oh gag me! Mmmmppphhhffffttt. Thank you. Not really. RachelXJake? Oh tell me it's not so! Perhaps I wrote a tragedy! And leaving you at that cliffhanger! Just review and turn the chapter marker.**


	3. Pain and the Whole Thing

My warning came too late. The giant boulder knocked Jake off his horse with a large THUMP. It rolled to a stop not far from us. I dismounted quickly and hurried over to him. So much for not crying. My cheeks were drenched with tears when I reached him. He was no longer conscious and I kneeled belong his head, cradling his head in lap. "Oh please be okay Jake. Please be okay. Please be okay. Oh please..." Finally, he let out a groan and tried to stand up and cried out in pain. "Stay lying down for now, Jake. Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere. My leg. My chest. One of my arms. " He groaned the words. "You have to have broken something, Jake. That wasn't a pebble that came down the hillside." I looked up at the sky. It was already graying. Of all the times for it to decide to rain. "We need to bring you to shelter. There's a cave near here. Do you think you could reach there if you could use me as a crutch?"

"Worth a shot, brat." I felt a flicker of annoyance at the nickname, but ignored it. I slung one of his arms over my shoulders and slowly tried to stand up. He cried out and I eased him back to the ground. "If you can't bring the person to shelter, bring the shelter to the person. Just a minute, Jake. You still have that medium tarp on the back of your saddle?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"'Cause it's the key to keeping you dry." I walked over to Witch and unwrapped the blue plastic from its bindings. Then, as almost an afterthought, I checked her over. Amazingly, she didn't bite me for touching her. Maybe she knew I was helping her. Jake had obviously taken the brunt of the boulder's impact. The saddle would need some huge repairs, but her abdomen only had a few scratches. They would heal with time.

Luckily, there were trees around us. There weren't enough to keep us dry though. I looked around while the rain held off and quickly found some small bendy trees. They wouldn't hold the tarp high, but it would have to do. I wasn't in a mood to complain. I took the knife I kept in a sheath on my belt and cut four. I'd have to thank my dad for insisting on my packing the knife. His comments about me being accident-prone weren't appreciated at the time, but they had their purpose. I walked back with my finds and shoved them into the soft ground and poked the other ends through the rivets on the tarp. Then, I glanced over at Jake, expecting a proud smile. Instead, there was a chattering of teeth and my eyes widened. He was cold and could have much worse than broken bones if he became any colder. I went to Ace, thankful I kept a blanket on the back of my brown leather saddle. I walked over to our makeshift shelter and the rain let loose. Unwrapping the precious bundle from its plastic casing, I draped it over Jake and sat down. "No Sam. Y-You n-need it."

"You don't pack a blanket on Witch's saddle and you're shaking like a leaf."

"You're not warm either though."

"It's okay. I'll be fine."

"So will I. It's not serious." He pulled me closer and put the blanket on both of us. I spoke, nearly in a whisper, the words filled with my fear. "It could have been. It could still be." Jake's brow creased. He put his arm around my shoulders to try to make me feel better, but I shrugged off his touch and looked away. It was a few minutes until he spoke. "I don't know what your problem is, Sam. Could you let me in on the secret?" Then, he took his hand and turned my face towards him. "What's wrong? You cried before the accident, and your cheeks are wet again. Were you crying just now?" I gave a shuddery breath. "I guess I have my answer. Why though? If some boy has hurt you, then so help me I'll pound him." I smiled slightly. "Who is it, Sam? I'll hurt him 'cause he hurt you."

"He's already in enough pain right now." I locked eyes with him, waiting for my words to sink in. Then, it dawned on him and he spoke gently. "How did I hurt you? When?"

"Today in general." A puzzled look came over his tanned face. "Can you explain?"

"Promise you won't be angry."

"I promise. Why would I be angry?"

"Remember I barfed at Slocum's? Rachel was flirting with you?"

"She's always done that. It's never affected you before."

"You weren't receptive to her attention before. Then, when the rock hit you, I...my heart felt like it might stop. I didn't know how serious your injuries were. If only I had warned you earlier..." My voice drifted off and I felt like crying again. "Sam, it wasn't your fault. Why should those things hurt you? And why would your explanation make me angry? I don't get it."

"When the rock fell, I thought I'd lose you, Jake."

"That's how friends feel when something bad happens. You're a great friend, Sam." I winced at his use of the word 'friend' and his eyes widened. "Wait a sec...you like me, don't you? Really like me?" I blushed and looked down at my lap. He put a finger on my chin and gently pushed my face up, smiling at me. Embarrassed, I moved away from his touch and flicked open my cell-phone to call home. "We're in the hills in the trees, under Jake's blue tarp. Yes Gram, I'm fine. Jake's in bad shape though. He's conscious, but I think he's broken a rib, his leg, and his arm, but other than that we're fine. Yes. Thanks." I clicked the cover shut. _We're fine, except I'm confessing my love for my best friend and we're huddled awkwardly under the same blanket. We're stuck under a bright blue tarp with no light, no food and pouring rain all around us. Other than that, we're fine and dandy. _"Jake, they're going to find us. They're comi-" Jake quickly pulled me over to him and kissed me gently on the lips. I was shocked, but so happy. He spoke to me, a long speech for Jake. It was out of character, but great. "I only ever dreamed of doing that with you, Sam. I only ever hoped you'd love me someday. I had given up on that dream. Rachel was as good as any other. I still hoped for you though, Sam." My heart soared at his words. He loved ME? "I'm sorry Sam that I caused you pain. I never meant to hurt yo-" It was my turn to interrupt a sentence as I kissed him long and hard. He leaned into the kiss and licked my bottom lip. I gladly granted him entrance. I grasped at his black hair as my tongue explored his mouth and his, mine. Then we separated, breathless but smiling.

Not much changed in the time that lapsed between then and when our rescuers found us.

**And that's a wrap! Review the story though! Was it good? Bad? I don't take flaming reviews badly if people point out things in my writing that could be improved. I love it, because then I CAN improve! Remember: if you see inconsistencies with my story and the books, let me know because I haven't read them in ages.**

**Thanks to the user, ****moleking**** for pointing out problems in the first version's plot and character reactions. It really helped!**


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